The fanatic crowd stirs in anticipation. The lights power on. The announcer prepares his voice. The two contenders crack their knuckles and swivel their heads in preparation of the battle that awaits. They hear their names, the crowd cheers, and they make their way to the center stage, one after the other. There will only be one winner, and both know victory will only come with deadly precision and power. No, this isn't the latest over hyped pay per view boxing main event, and no, this isn't the latest WWE Smackdown vs Raw, this is PDC World Championship Darts 2008, and if that doesn't excite you right here and now, well, chances are I've just lost you.

Lets get something clear right off the bat - I'm not a big darts fan. In fact, up until playing this game, I thought the idea of darts was to get as many bullseyes as possible (I know, it was a surprise for me too). Pool has always been my 'not quite a worthy sport to see on ESPN but still more of a sport than poker' favorite. Anyway, despite by somewhat unfamiliarity with this fine sport, I feel I know a good game when I play one, so lets give this a shot.

Being an officially licensed game, PDC World Championship Darts 2008 should please fans with its inclusion of authentic names and brands, including commentary from Sid Waddell and referee Bruce Spendley, along with 16 professionals ranging from the likes of Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld to Andy Jenkins and Kevin Painter. Admittedly, I had no idea who these guys were before playing the game, but even so, it's still good to see attention was directed at making the game 'real world' authentic - so much so that individual pro's have easily identifiable visual qualities, as well as unique throwing styles. In tune with this, the game's TV like presentation is also quite appealing and authentic, feeling quite like a real broadcast, at least from the limited TV broadcasts of darts that I have actually seen anyway.

The modes on offer are pretty much what you'd expect. You have an 'Exhibition' mode for one off friendly games, a 'Tournament' mode to set up, er, tournaments, and a 'Career' mode that is basically a series of tournaments and friendly games bunched together using either an included professional or a created player, where statistics and money totals are kept. The tournaments on offer live up to the game's authentic and licensed approach, featuring official events like the US and UK Open as well as a few others based in real world locations. There is also one last mode accessible from the main menu - a 'Party Games' mode. This is exactly what it sounds like - a mode where between two and four gamers can sit down and play a whole heap of dart variations aimed at instant fun. You can of course play the standard 501 style game, but there are also more on offer such as 'Around the Clock', 'Cricket', 'Twenty-One', and 'Killer' just to name a few. For those like me who have no idea what those variations entail, a brief run down of rules for each are included.